Atlanta Rap Gets the Photography Treatment

Atlanta has definitely attained legendary status as a great hip-hop town and now its scene is getting the full-blown documentary treatment. Photographer Michael Schmelling is releasing a new book that documents two full years photographing the ATL rap world. Simply titled 'Atlanta,' the book is being celebrated with a signing at Dashwood Books in downtown New York tonight at a party thrown by FADER Magazine.

"The book started out as an attempt to look back on the making of Outkast's 1998 record 'Aquemini,' wrote Schmelling. "It grew into this larger project about the current scene in Atlanta, but much of the book's foundation was directly inspired by the breadth and details and themes of 'Aquemini.' The sound of that record isn't too easy to hear in the music coming out of Atlanta these days, but that same sense of ambition that took Andre and Big Boi down to Headland and Delowe is everywhere, it still drives hip-hop, and the city."

The full book is available Nov. 1 via Chronicle Books. Along with Schmelling's photography, there is also text by New Yorker scribe Kelefa Sanneh and GQ's Will Welch. You can check out some initial photos from 'Atlanta' here.